Till Death Do We Part
by cheebabomb
Summary: HBP Spoilers. Draco and Hermione meet four years later after the fierce battle which Dumbledore died in. Draco's living a hidden life, he's weak, and he might meet Harry Potter anytime ready to kill him. Will his help be from Hermione? Or will she just l
1. Till Death Do We Part

**Here's another fanfic that I decided to write. It's my second one; I'm not sure how it'll turn out but please review and tell me what you think of it. **

**Thanks! **

_**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters featured in this fan fiction. They belong to J.K Rowling and I believe you know that. : D**_

Chapter One: Outside Hog's Head

He hugged himself as he walked through the freezing streets of Knockturn Alley. He caught a glimpse of Diagon Alley – although it was dark, it definitely looked much more cheery than Knockturn Alley.

He passed Borgin and Burkes and felt his heart lurch forward. It had been four years since he went so near it. Whatever this shop reminded him of – he didn't want to be reminded of it.

Memories flashed in his head. Everything from when Voldermort threatened his family, the Death Eater fight he was forced to be involved in and the sight of Dumbledore falling from the sky.

He swore never to have anything else to do with The Dark Lord ever. He pulled his sweatshirt closer to his body and shivered. It felt as though someone was following him. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and closed down tightly around his wand – just in case.

"Who's there?" someone's groggy voice rang out as he entered Diagon Alley. Draco Malfoy fell back, shocked. _I think I should be the one asking you that question!_ He pulled out his wand and glanced around. He was in front of Hog's Head. Someone stumbled out of the pub, pushed him aside and puked right in front of his feet.

"Argh! What is the problem with you-?" He stopped. Was that who he thought he was seeing? He froze. The person hadn't changed one bit. "Granger?" he whispered – but unfortunately, it was audible enough for her to hear.

Hermione Granger glanced up, pushing her hair away from her face. She squinted at Draco. He didn't dare look at her in her eyes. It seemed like forever that she was staring at him.

Suddenly, she stood up and pushed him against the wall. "You!" she cried. "You!"

Draco pushed her off him. "Let go, Granger." He said but she didn't let go, instead she banged on him with both fists. "You bastard! Fucking idiot! What do you think you are doing here? You murderer! You killed Dumbledore!"

Draco didn't budge. He just stood there, letting Hermione Granger beat him. He couldn't move. Her yelling reminded him of all the horror. What happened four years back – Snape pushing him to run, to escape. More memories came pouring back. Potter's screams still haunted him. He had never wanted that – he never wanted Dumbledore to die at all.

"Why aren't you dead!" Hermione screamed. Draco didn't understand why she didn't use her wand on him. "DAMNED YOU! You… _you son of a bitch_!"

Draco's eyes flashed. He grabbed her wrists and pulled them apart, holding them up as he looked at her in her eyes. He was too strong for her and she couldn't struggle.

"You can insult me all you want, but I forbid you to insult my mother." He hissed, looking at her straight in her eyes.

Hermione was taken aback. She didn't know what else to say, instead she shook her wrists. "Let me go, you're hurting me."

Draco released his grip immediately. He felt apologetic for grabbing her so tightly but he just couldn't stand it when someone insulted his mother.

Hermione fell backward. She stared up at Draco. "What are you even doing here?" she snapped.

He looked back at her with his cold, gray eyes but he didn't answer, instead he studied her. He didn't know she would even drink till she got drunk.

"What are you doing drinking all alone?" he asked.

Hermione gave a little laugh. "I lost my job. They didn't even give me time to pack up – just told me to go on the spot. Fuck it, fuck them." She said. "_I don't think_ _we need you anymore_." She mimicked in a high-pitched voice. "A whole load of bullshit!"

Draco couldn't believe what he was wearing. Goody-two-shoes Granger was using such vulgarities? The whole was definitely coming to an end.

He just shook his head and turned to leave. She would have Potter and Weasley come for her sooner or later. He couldn't face Potter. He would kill him on the spot.

'_You're not a killer.' _Dumbledore's words echoed in his head once more.

I think I am one.

_**Please review! Thank you!**_


	2. Narcissa's Fate

_**Disclaimer: (You know it!)**_

Chapter two: Narcissa's fate

Hermione wiped off a little saliva that was near her mouth. She looked up to find Draco Malfoy walking away already.

She admitted that she felt that it was partly his fault that Dumbledore was dead, but she never once blamed him. At least if she did, it was not as much as Harry and Ron ever did.

"Malfoy! Where are you going?" She yelled, standing up and brushing dust off her backside.

He stopped for a moment. "Somewhere you don't want to know." He said without turning back as he continued walking on.

She decided to follow him. He would never let her in, but it was worth a try to sneak in. Was Snape living with him? She knew his father was never out of Azkaban. Was his mother living with him?

She had to be very careful, it was dark and she couldn't see any twigs or small items she might step on. But Draco Malfoy seemed to be stalling her. He stopped to pet a stray cat! She never knew he liked animals and was kind enough to pet them. After what seemed like hours, he was still there.

He didn't seem to be going home. Hermione sighed and slumped against a wall. What was she doing so sneakily? Suddenly somebody grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth. She screamed into the hand.

"Shush!" the person said. Hermione immediately relaxed. She knew that voice! "Let go, Malfoy." She said into the hand, although it was muffled and sounded like, "_Yet oh, Malfoyyy_."

He let go of her and demanded, "What do you think you were doing? Stop following me!"

"I-," she said. "I wasn't following you."

"Yes you were." Draco hissed at her. His silver-blond hair seemed to shine in the dark. "What do you want? No lies!"

Hermione narrowed her eyes. Who was he to push her around? "I don't think you have the right to demand anything from me." She said.

Draco narrowed his eyes too in response. "Okay!" he said simply, shrugging his shoulders. "Then _do not_ follow me. I will know if you do, _Mudblood_." He said, spitting out the word he always used to taunt her with.

She glared at him and he strode off.

-------

Narcissa Malfoy had become very weak all those years. She was ill and so bony, it seemed as though you could squeeze her to death if you hugged her. Her eyes, filled with so much sadness and longing, as she glanced out of the window.

Both Draco and she have lived a hidden life – away from everybody, even her sister.

"Mother, what are you doing?" A portion of her weight seemed to be lifted off her shoulders when she heard her son's voice. She turned and saw him going towards her.

"Where were you?"

"I was out." Draco said as his mother placed her hand on his cheek. He closed his eyes. He loved his mother dearly – she was the last person he would ever want to lose. If she died, he would want to die with her.

"You have to be careful. You know The Dark Lord would come back for us." Narcissa said softly. Draco nodded. "I know, but I want to have nothing to do with him ever. I want _us_ to have nothing to do with him."

Narcissa stared at Draco. She closed her eyes and sighed, "I'm sorry, Draco."

Draco felt his eyes burn with tears. It was so heartbreaking to see his mother like this. "No, don't be, Mother." He said, clutching her hands. "Now, why don't you get some rest? I'll wake you in the morning."

He picked her up and placed her onto the bed where she closed her eyes peacefully and fell asleep in no time.

------

Draco felt that his luck was beginning to change from bad to worse when he saw Hermione Granger again the next morning. She was standing alone, nibbling on a piece of toast. She spotted him and rolled her eyes.

Draco scowled back. He had to buy his mother's breakfast and hurry back – allowing no one to notice that it was him. Well, except for Hermione Granger. She was staring him all the while. He felt his shoulders tense up, what did she want? And how come she suffered from no hangover? He didn't believe she could hold her liquor so well.

"Thank you, sir." The person at the counter handed over his purchases without even looking up. That's a relief. He turned and headed back to his house as quickly as possible.

He opened his house doors, "Mother, I'm home." He announced. His mother was not awake yet. He smiled at her smiling, peaceful face as she slept. He placed her breakfast on the kitchen table and went to her bedroom, kneeling next to her. "Mother, it's time for your breakfast." He said softly.

She didn't move.

"It's time to wake up."

She still didn't budge. Draco froze, falling backwards and landing on his backside as he stared at his mother. It can't be.

"Mother…." He shook her. He shook her even harder. She still laid there, her mouth curved up into a little smile and her eyes closed.

Draco didn't believe it. He got up and shook her as he felt his eyes tear. "Mother, get up… it's time for breakfast! I bought your favorite… you told me you wanted it yesterday… you told me…." He broke down completely, sobbing onto his mother's shoulders.

She was gone.

_**Review! **_


	3. Snape's Reappearance

Chapter three: Snape's reappearance!

Hermione ripped the plastic casing off her sandwich and bit into it. She glanced at her watch, "_Great – late again_." she said, rolling her eyes.

"Yo, Hermione!" She heard Ron's voice behind her and turned around. "You guys are late again!" she shrieked. Then she stopped. It was only Ron – where was Harry and Ginny?

"Chill, Hermione." Ron said.

"Where are Harry and Ginny?" Hermione asked Ron, looking over his shoulder. He grunted, "Them? They went shopping for some stuff they need for their wedding. God, I can't believe my younger sister and best friend are _getting married_!" He said 'getting married' in a disgusted tone.

"Oh, Ronald." Hermione rolled her eyes. "The wedding won't be till a long time after and you're just afraid of commitment."

"Wha-? I am not." Ron retorted. He cast a glance at her sandwich. "What's that? Looks eurgh."

"Stop that please, Ron. It's tuna." Hermione replied, taking another bite of her sandwich.

"Muggle food, eh?"

"Yeah, it's fish." Hermione replied, ignoring Ron's look of disbelief and then she spotted Ginny and Harry. "Oh, there they are!" She waved at Harry and Ginny who were approaching, carrying shopping bags. Ginny seemed to be glowing radiantly. _Ah, happens to all about-to-be-married women,_ Hermione thought.

"Hermione!" Ginny squealed, rushing towards Hermione and the both of them hugged. "I haven't seen you in a while. How are you?"

Hermione laughed and pulled away, "I'm fine. You looked great – really." She said and Ginny smiled as she linked arms with Hermione, walking into The Three Broomsticks. Harry and Ron followed behind, Harry complaining, "I can't believe it. Hermione didn't even say anything to me."

"What, you jealous?"

"Obviously not, but it was like I was invisible!"

"You'd better not let Ginny or Hermione hear that – they'll think you're one petty man."

"Hear what?" Ginny and Hermione turned when they heard their names.

"Oh, nothing." Harry said sheepishly.

"You're one lucky guy, Harry." Hermione said, smiling. "You should be honored to have Ginny."

"Ah, yes." Harry exchanged a smug look with Ginny, who turned to Hermione, "You should get yourself a nice guy too."

"Oh well…" Hermione flushed as they took a booth and Ginny handed the shopping bags to Harry. "I guess I've been too busy." Hermione said.

"Busy?" Ron stared at her. Then he remembered something. "Oh yes, we've heard about your job!"

Hermione scowled slightly. "Yes I've heard about that too." She said bitterly.

Harry said, "How can you be busy when you've got no job?" The moment he said that, he flushed red. Oops.

Ginny sighed impatiently. The guys were so annoying! "Oh, Hermione. It's a blessing in disguise then. Now that you're, um, not so busy at work, it's the best time to find a date!"

"Wow, thanks." Hermione said sarcastically. "But I don't think I want to date right now."

After a few more drinks and two hours of chatting and reminiscing on the days at Hogwarts, they decided to leave. Harry and Ron were paying for the drinks while Ginny and Hermione waited outside.

"So, what are you thinking of doing now?" Ginny asked, glancing in to check if the boys were done.

"Oh nothing much, look for another job I guess." Hermione replied. She looked around and then she froze. She knew that white-blond head anywhere! She looked into The Three Broomsticks frantically to see if Harry and Ron were still inside.

"… you'll get one in no time. After all-,"

Hermione decided that either Harry and Ron or Malfoy were to leave. Either one of them. And she could only make Harry and Ron leave.

"Ginny, will you guys be going back soon?" Hermione cut Ginny off.

"Um, I'm not sure yet. We could be doing some shopping. I'm not sure… maybe you want to come to The Burrow to hang out? You haven't been there in a while!" Ginny said excitedly.

"Oh, oh okay then." Hermione replied half-heartedly as she watched Harry and Ron leave the pub, laughing about something. She shuffled them off into the opposite direction of where Draco Malfoy was.

Finally, while they were safe out of where Draco was, Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. She smiled to herself, thinking of seeing the fun Weasley family again, and then she thought, how come she was trying to save Draco Malfoy so much anyway?

------

_Wiltshire, Malfoy Manor: Draco Malfoy is said to be spotted at the Malfoy Manor, witnesses include Mrs. Heather McCarthy, aged 86 is said to have spotted the only heir of the Malfoy_…

Draco squashed up the newspaper. _When did I ever go back there?_ He thought angrily. _This woman, she's already 86, what does she know? Those dumb asses, believing such crap!_

He took a swig of his drink. God, this sucked. Now, he was even more alone. He had nothing to live for or no one to live for.

He took one last drink and threw some money onto the table to pay for them. Then he walked out, checking to see if there was no one. Of course, there wasn't anyone. It was late at night. He only left his house at night. The new bartender didn't seem to also recognize him.

Suddenly, someone cried out in the dark. "Ouch! You again?"

Draco's mouth fell all the way to the ground. How many times did he have to see this girl? She had seemed to bring him so much fucking bad luck. God!

"I should be the one saying that, you Mudblood!" Draco spat out.

"Shut up, Malfoy!" Hermione screamed back at him. "Do you know you have absolutely no right now to even say my name?"

"That will only happen in your dreams, Mudblood!" Draco yelled back, wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve. What did she want? He didn't even do anything to her. He pushed past her, and headed off.

"Ew, you reek of alcohol, you idiot." Hermione mumbled as she watched him walk off. Then she spotted something he dropped on the floor: The Daily Prophet. She picked it up and smoothed it out.

She smirked at the headline. "You went back to your old _lair_ eh, Malfoy?" she called out to him. He stopped, "Don't believe everything you read, Mudblood." He snapped.

"Oh?" Hermione said. "Then how come this lady apparently spotted you?"

Draco whirled around. "I thought you were supposed to be the brightest witch ever at Hogwarts. Couldn't you see that the woman is already 86? How good could her damned eyesight be?" he snapped at her.

Hermione scowled. "How many people could have looked like _you_?" she said sarcastically.

"Many." Draco growled. "I couldn't have known it better myself. I _did not_ go back there."

"And on whose account should I believe you?"

"Shut up, Granger, go away and stop bothering me okay. I have absolutely no reason to go back there."

"Oh yeah? What about your mother? I haven't heard from her at all. What, is she dead?" Hermione smirked, feeling smug. The moment after she had said it, she froze. Shit, he would come raging at her again! The last time she just called his mother a 'bitch' by mistake and he came charging at her!

"Uh, Malfoy, no-,"

But Draco Malfoy seemed to be very quiet. It was absolute silence Hermione was hearing as she could even hear the ringing in her ears. Hermione felt her heart thumping in her chest. She knew he was unpredictable. Now, what was he going to do to her?

Then she saw a small single tear roll down Draco Malfoy's pale face. Oh, God, what's gone into him?

"M-Malfoy?" Hermione asked softly. "Wh-what's wrong?"

He seemed to snap out of his trance, and then with one hand, he swiped his tear away and turned to leave. Hermione stared after him as he left. She opened her mouth to call him but nothing came out.

Then she realized what she had done. _'What, is she dead?'_ Damn it, Hermione. Since when had you been so mean to someone? Even though it was Malfoy… Something must have happened to his mother.

She decided to be nice _for once_.

"Hey, Malfoy, what's up with you?" She ran up next to him as he walked and walked beside him. "I mean, it's unlike you to walk off without a mean comment to me…"

He stopped and stared coldly at her. "I don't wish to tell you, Granger. And stop following me again, will you?" he asked before continuing to walk.

"It's not like I really want to follow you." Hermione said, shrugging. "I'm nice, okay."

He grunted, "Yeah right."

"What?" She protested. "You've got to lighten up, it's all…" She stopped when Draco turned into a dark corner out of Hogsmeade. "Hey! I'm talking to you."

He didn't reply but continued down the alley and out of sight into the darkness, heading towards The Shrieking Shack._ There's no way I am going in there_, Hermione told herself. She turned and walked back slowly to her house, trying very hard not to think about Malfoy's tear sliding down his face.

Why had that happen in the first place? Something must have happened… and it involved his mother.

-------

Draco turned, trying to get a glimpse of whether Hermione was following him. Good, she wasn't! That girl was so annoying – back in school and still after four years. He still wondered why she hadn't raided on him with Potter. After all, The Golden Trio had always seemed to want him dead.

Remembering the Golden Trio, Draco felt a tinge of sadness – not because of Potter and all his lame doings but that the three of them had each other for support. He had no one, except his mother, but now she was gone. He was alone. He had no one to lean on for support, he had no family.

Suddenly, the spot on his left forearm – where he bore the Dark Mark – started feeling hot. Then, someone appeared out of nowhere.

Draco jumped up. It was Severus Snape. Draco asked with caution, "What are you doing here?"

Snape drawled. "I've heard about your mother." He stared at Draco. "I came for you."

Draco froze, "But I do not intend you go with you."

"But you do not have any family to be with now. Your mother's gone. Come with me, The Dark Lord wants you to join him."

"I have absolute no intention of joining him."

That made Snape very angry. Indeed, he did resemble the anger of Lucius' when Draco tried to defy him of any way. "What did you say?" Snape snapped at Draco. "What did you just say?"

"I… don't wish to repeat myself, _Professor_ Snape." Draco replied, emphasizing on the word Professor, which was a big mistake, made Snape even angrier. He went up to Draco and forced Draco's left sleeve up, revealing the Dark Mark and Draco's distorted arm.

Draco gave a yell, "What do you think you are doing?" he said. "Let go of me!"

"You see this!" Snape spat, showing his yellow teeth. "This is the mark of your loyalty to the Dark Lord. DO NOT ever speak of him like that!"

Draco yanked his arm away and shoved his sleeve back down. "I was forced to bear this mark." He said, glaring at Snape, who was glaring back. "Thank you for your concern about my mother. Good bye." Draco said, turning around and marching off. He felt good. Standing up to his father would have felt even better but it was too bad he was off in Azkaban.

A/N: I know the story's kinda lame but review and give me comments on how I should improve it, cos I'm VERY hungry for reviews. Sigh, I always get close to none sometimes and that makes me very sad. Yep! Pleaseeee…. 

Thanks. I'm a desperate writer here. 

: D


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